King Chef Seafood Restaurant Main Branch: An Honest Review

When it comes to Chinese food, you’re in for a treat at King Chef Seafood Restaurant!

Having been awarded the number 1 Chinese Restaurant, featured in Best of Manila Collection in 2017, and received the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Chinese Restaurants in 2018, King Chef Seafood Restaurant is bound to be your next favorite restaurant.

Want to give it a try? Here’s what to expect!

Food

From noodles to peking duck, you can find the best authentic Chinese food in King Chef Seafood Restaurant. We recently had the chance to try the food from the main branch in Banawe St. Quezon City and here’s my review of the place.

Our Recommendations

King Chef is a restaurant that has way too many things to offer. I mean, it’s really overwhelming if it’s your first time! So lucky you, I’ve listed some of the foods I would like you to try during your first visit.

Spicy Sizzling Squid

Did you know that a majority of the population have never tasted a really nicely cooked squid? Well, with King Chef Seafood’s spicy sizzling squid, you will surely be surprised! The sizzling squid is one of the best dishes to try for sure!

Its slight spiciness matched with a generous sauce and tender, juicy squid just takes the cake. Match that with rice and you will be pleased. This is hands down one of my favorites.

Peking Duck

: First….

: Then…

Tadaaa!

And this is where the rest of the bones are…

The peking duck is one of the more premiere dishes served in this fine establishment. It is something you order if you really want to know what King Chef and their kitchen can really do. It’s a juicy, tender duck that is in a league of its own. I see them carried in boxes for people to take home and I have tasted the dish myself.

All I can say about it is that it is phenomenal. I’ve been honing my palette for foods and I can tell you, they put a massive amount of work, devotion and care creating this masterpiece. They can prepare it for you in two or three ways. Just enough choices to keep you coming for more!

Hototay Soup

Soup is the best starting dish in every kitchen. It’s an amazing appetizer as it coats your stomach for the feast that’s yet to come. King Chef’s Hototay soup is a colorful selection that you might want to try.

It has bits and pieces of wanton, shrimp, and pork innards, all of which are dancing to a medley of flavorful vegetables like carrots, mushrooms and bell peppers.

Suahe with Salted Eggs

Now if you are looking for something more in defiance with the norm, then the Suahe with Salted Eggs is the dish for you. It consists of large, plumpy prawns doused in salted egg batter and deepfried to crispy “just right” perfection.

It’s a whole shelled prawn that you eat from head to tail. Don’t even try to remove the shell or you’ll miss the salted egg goodness. Everything is just edible!

King Style Crab Rice

Now, if you are wondering about what kind of rice you should pair with all these delicious, scrumptious foods, then might we suggest you try their king style crab rice. It’s a bowl of delectable rice served with a whole crab for you to crush and love. Yes, you read that right! You get the whole crab package – with shells and everything.

Roasted Milk Tea/Matcha Milk Tea

Drinks? Better yet, MILK TEAAAAA! (Hello milk tea lovers!) You should give any of these two a try. Not going to spoil you, but they are absolutely amazing! Also, no straws, be mindful of mother earth.

This is a small thing I appreciate with King Chef restaurants and their willingness to commit to nature. (Their take out packages are all biodegradable, too!)

Mapo Tofu

Mapo Tofu is a really interesting dish that I personally love. It is basically somewhat like a taho with spicy tomato as sauce and minced meat for sago. This dish is a body warming meal that can further satisfy your spicy itch. Paired with rice or other dishes, it really brings a different depth of flavor you can enjoy.

Taiwan Petchay with 3 Kinds of Mushrooms

Of course, if you are not into that meat stuff, then you can enjoy their abundant selections of mushrooms. For me, I enjoyed the Taiwan petchay with 3 kinds of mushrooms a lot. Make sure to take a piece of the different mushrooms and petchay in one bite. I assure you they taste wonderful!

X.O. Siomai

Don’t let this small simple and basic dish fool you. The X.O. Siomai packs a punch fitting of the term “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” or better yet “Don’t judge a dumpling by its wrapper.” The XO siomai is filled with tons of seafood surprise. You will never dine here without ordering it on the side. You can also order this from their King Chef Dimsum Kitchen Branches.

Salted Egg Bomb

If you love King Chef Dimsum Kitchen’s buchi like my wife does, you’re going to go gaga over the salted egg bomb. It’s like an evolved buchi which packs a bomb of sweet goodness!

Imperial Blooms

For artsy yummy food that will make you want to take gazillion photos of, the imperial blooms is a must-try! It’s the most beautiful food I’ve ever seen. Plus, if you want to give it as a gift to someone, better order beforehand. You can even ask them to write something on it or order a bigger size. Just make sure you order earlier as preparation for this beauty takes a long time.

Ambience

Entering the place, you will suddenly get the feeling that they cater to a lot of people. From solo, a date and families of four to a company of a hundred, you can rest assured that they can offer a venue that can match well with your needs.

The place is beautiful, filled with square tables as well as lazy susans (a round table, basically like the knights of Camelot only instead of swords, they lay down foods and there is also that small circle table in the middle which spins around so you can pick food from the other side) ornaments, lanterns, red cloths atop white, the place screams Chinese and honestly, all the decors and furniture complement one another to bring you that authentic Chinese dining experience!

Customer Service

One thing I would like to really nail close to home is the fact that the people working at King Chef, from the servers to the kitchen staffs are quite accommodating and caring. The customer service sets the standards for other restaurants.

Waiters are assigned their specific tables. From the start to the end of your meal, they will not leave your side. They will be providing you with all your needs during the gastronomic experience as well as give you an in-depth description and explanation of the dishes you wish to try. It’s the best personalized service there is!

It might be awkward at first having a person standing right beside you. However, it’s a reassuring feeling to have somebody there to accommodate your need whether that be water, your extra order or your bill. This just makes the King Chef experience a whole lot better!

This to me is why I put the King chef at a level above their peers. The amount of effort they put into taking care of you is just heartwarming.

Tips

Get a Smart Diner Privilege Card to get more savings – King Chef offers a Smart Diner privilege card that comes with crazy ton of perks! You get lots of free stuff, too! So if you’re ever in a King Chef restaurant, better get your hands on one! Seriously. They currently have an ongoing promo today where you can buy a box of peking duck for just P1,000+ instead of the regular price of P2,000+ if you have the card!!
Go during happy hours – Depending on the King Chef branch you’re going to, better check their happy hours before visiting. During this time, you’re going to get promo prices for several items on the menu! If you’re on a budget or just plain want to eat more, this is a budget tip that you should memorize by heart.

Branches

King Chef Dimsum Kitchen

2/F 238 Banawe Centre, Quezon City
The Block Ground Flr., SM City North Edsa
SM Cherry Shaw, Mandaluyong City
The Orchard Hotel No. 49 Legarda Road, Baguio City